


those honeycomb eyes

by luvbot



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pining, Unresolved Romantic Tension, gay bickering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25246624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvbot/pseuds/luvbot
Summary: He hears the light thump of boots on dirt and lifts his gaze from his book, sparing a quick glance up to the one who dares interrupt his peace and quiet."Prince Takumi," he hums in acknowledgement, already turning back towards the book in his hands, “Here for a spot of archery?”“You’re in my spot.”...huh?
Relationships: Leon | Leo/Takumi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	those honeycomb eyes

A small sigh fills the silence as Leo turns the page of his book. The edges of the paper are crinkled and torn ever so slightly, and the corners of the dusty tome worn away; years- no, _centuries_ of use were bound to deal damage at some point.

Light filters through peach-tinted petals into his eyes and he shifts slightly.

Damned Hoshido and its harsh, _constant_ sunlight. The prince's skin isn't used to such weather; a lifetime in the grim kingdom of Nohr clearly does wonders with the looks he gets while strolling the Hoshidan capital.

Sarcasm. In the eyes of locals, he surely looks like a tomato in that brilliant light.

He hears the light _thump_ of boots on dirt and lifts his gaze from his book, sparing a quick glance up to the one who dares interrupt his peace and quiet.

"Prince Takumi," he hums in acknowledgement, already turning back towards the book in his hands, “Here for a spot of archery?”

“You’re in my spot.”

...huh?

Leo takes a moment to register the young prince’s words, brow furrowing in low, simmering irritation kept neatly below the surface. _His_ spot? Last Leo checked, he’d gotten here first. There were plenty of trees throughout the range; how is this one so different that this- this moody _brat_ of a prince feels the need to proclaim it as his so _rudely?_

Keep a lid on it, Leo. Show him that you can be _infinitely_ more mature than he could ever dream of being.

“Rather than being so _rude_ about it, perhaps you could just sit on the other side of the trunk?”

While the Nohrian prince’s first instinct was to send Takumi as far from him as physically possible, he knows he has a duty to at least remain _civil_. Hoshidan and Nohrian relations are still somewhat strained, after all. He doesn't particularly want to have the archer so close to him while he’s trying to enjoy a good read, but he has to make sacrifices sometimes - lest he make Takumi unreasonably angry and strain things further.

Leo certainly doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of his Fujin Yumi.

 _Takumi’s_ first instinct, on the other hand, is to stick his tongue out, mumble something about _Nohrian scum_ , and flatly turn tail in the other direction. Alternatively, find a new quiver for a couple of new yumis that need breaking in through the dark prince’s head - but then he catches sight of the book in Leo’s grasp.

So instead of making whatever insulting or violent thoughts he might have a reality, Takumi settles himself down beside the other prince, hands pressing into the soft grass underneath.

"That's... a good book you found. I read it a lot when I was a kid.”

Leo hums a response, turning yet another page. He’s about half-way into the weighty tome, give-or-take.

It’s a fantasy novel - not a genre he tends to peruse often (at least that’s what he tells everyone; he’d prefer his subordinates believe he reads encyclopedias and scholarly articles day-in, day-out rather than let Niles know he often stays up in his bedquarters with a candle, lost in tales of ancient dragons and legendary blade-wielding heroes) but the ancient, labyrinth-like libraries Hoshido had to offer interested him greatly.

He’d already read the ones back in Nohr out of house and home, anyways; there’s only so many times you can reread the same publication on magical tomes and staves before one goes a tad loopy.

Leo looks up from his page and folds the corner just in time for the novel to be snatched from his grasp by the other prince. He can hardly make a noise of surprise before Takumi’s flipping through pages to work out exactly where Leo is in the story and slamming it shut once he’s caught up.

“You’re at the part where the mysterious hero reveals her true identity! Tell me, what did you think?!” Takumi exclaims, leaning just a little _too_ close into Leo’s personal space and deeply analyzing every inch of his face for any reaction he could gauge.

That’s… _certainly_ a change in personality. All hostility seems to have vanished entirely from Takumi’s disposition, and Leo is entirely taken aback by the sharp turn in conversation.

He blinks once.

Twice. 

The prince invading his bubble doesn’t move away, tilting his head a little in curiosity, awaiting Leo’s response - Leo notes how Takumi’s hair frames his face nicely, how the light sifting through sakura petals overhead leaves a nice glow on the edges of his figure, how his golden eyes sparkle with intrigue and anticipation-

Rein it in, Leo. _REIN IT IN._

Where did that even _come_ from? Leo’s never had such thoughts before, but now that Takumi’s right before him, eyes boring into his own, perhaps it’s awakened something. Something he’d quite like put to rest, and _soon._

“...prince Leo?”

The archer seems to have careened a smidge backwards somewhere between that sparkle in his eye and Leo mentally digging his own grave - speaking of, Leo snaps back into place almost unnaturally, hastily clearing his throat and shuffling further backwards in the grass… he’s probably going to have some grass stains on his nice, new, _personally tailored_ slacks by the end of this, he realizes, but again - sacrifices. Leo thinks he might _combust_ if Takumi comes any closer to him.

“Ah, the- the book! Yes, the _book_ …” what was the plot again? Leo’s normally apt and practiced brain is _fried_ , “I certainly wasn’t expecting her to be the future child of the Exalt… although from their striking resemblance, I don’t see how I never saw it coming-”

 _“Exactly!”_ Takumi’s hands slam back onto the grass, renewed vigor in his eyes as he recalls the twist in question, “Especially since she wields the same blade! When you think about it, who else could she have been? But that’s what makes it so good!”

His enthusiasm is… cute, Leo decides.

He’s never seen Hoshido’s second prince enthusiastic about anything other than mentally heeding Nohr’s own prince as a new bullseye; it’s nice to know that he has interests that _don’t_ include hating an entire country and the people in it.

...Leo should really let that go. It’s not like he doesn’t see those same characteristics in himself. Their respective royal families were at each others’ necks once, and now they’re not. Live and let live, as the saying goes; Takumi was clearly loosening up just a little, and it would be rotten to spoil that with such a petty _‘grudge’._

Besides… now that he’s seen such a heartwarming smile, he doesn’t want to mar that pretty face with a frown. 

(Oh dear. He really has been spending far too much time with Niles, hasn’t he? Or maybe he picked that one up from Laslow somewhere down the line.)

Leo chuckles, offhandedly tucking a stray strand of hair behind his own ear and adjusting to sit cross-legged by Takumi’s side, delicately plucking the novel from his grasp and carding through pages until he finds the one with the folded corner.

The afternoon sun pleasantly warms his face as he buries his nose in literature once more, the chirping of birds and a soft breeze sweeping over his frame providing a welcome backdrop...

But he just can’t shake the feeling of eyes on him. Specifically, the eyes of the archer next to him.

“...so, how are you finding the story so far?” Takumi asks, though he pointedly looks in the other direction when Leo lifts his head. He didn’t expect him to actually… try and continue their conversation.

This whole interaction had stemmed from Takumi wanting his spot back, and Leo naturally assumed that the book discussion was a way to cover his behind, to be the _slightest_ bit crude.

Leo thinks about his answer for a moment.

“It’s… interesting,” he begins, struggling to find his footing in an insecure conversation where Leo feels that, if he doesn’t give a decent answer to the archer, he’ll accidentally incur the wrath of him and that damned holy bow of his. Takumi _did_ say he read it a lot, so it’s likely a high favorite.

In all honesty… he’s read better tales. But he’s only read half-way, in the book’s defense - no-where near far enough to gauge its ability to hold itself as a good novel.

“The main character holds my interest, being written as an enigmatic and puzzling tactician with a foggy past, and the way the description brought attention to the mark on their hand in the beginning strikes me as-”

Takumi exhales, _loudly,_ and Leo falters long enough for him to get a word in edgewise.

“Can’t you just say if you like it or not? I don’t need all the _theatrics.”_

“Too complicated for you, prince Takumi?” Leo hums, a faint, teasing smile gracing his face.

Oh, he’s _well aware_ he’s playing with fire. “Would you prefer I dumb it down for you, your grace?”

A pause. Two, maybe. The air is heavy, with the silence from either side ringing throughout the courtyard.

Then Takumi explodes.

His face heats up in what Leo can only describe in embarrassment and poorly kept rage bubbling over the surface, and he pushes himself to his feet and _stamps_ the grass down until it’s nought but a sad, flat little patch.

Leo notes that he’s strictly keeping his arms at his sides, but his hands are twitching - likely wishing for a bowstring to pull back and snap and send an arrow into a _certain someone’s_ dumb, blonde head.

Or maybe he just wants to strangle him. Leo doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of either, to be perfectly honest. The Nohrian prince didn’t exactly favor the idea of his death being at the hands of a moody, bratty little prince he just _happened_ to tease a little too much.

A bratty, ridiculously pretty little prince. A prince with hair that looks astonishingly soft, with red cheeks he just wanted to cup in his hands and _ki-_

Gods, this is the _completely_ wrong time for that. Leo drags one hand down his face and uses the other to roughly grab Takumi’s and drag him back down onto the grass, “I was messing with you, prince Takumi. I apologize. I didn’t think you’d have that much of a-”

“Don’t rub it in!” Takumi shouts, tumbling down with Leo’s harsh tug of his hand. He sits up, and just when Leo thinks _‘oh great, this is where I_ **_really_ ** _get it,’_ the archer takes a deep breath and reclines against the sturdy trunk of the sakura tree, carding a hand through his hair in an effort to calm himself. His other hand hasn’t let go of Leo’s - in fact, he’s holding onto it almost like a lifeline.

That flush over his cheeks hasn’t completely faded, and Leo would quite like to think it as the result of something _other_ than bubbling irritation.

The two princes sit in silence against the same tree, sharing an unspoken truce for the time being as Takumi collects himself. Those honeycomb eyes of his stare unblinking into the distance, contemplative and just a pinch glazed over in thought, until a stray sakura petal drifts down and onto his nose.

The little cross-eyed look Takumi gives the petal causes a laugh to bubble in Leo’s throat, and he unthinkingly reaches over and flicks it away, his fingers delicately brushing the prince’s face and sparking a short but sweet flush to Takumi’s cheeks.

This earns him an icy glare, and Leo almost regrets it… but when Takumi pointedly huffs and practically throws himself against the mage’s shoulder, leaning into him and staring off at a bird (or maybe just thin air, to be honest), Leo finds that the rush to his own face (and his heart, by extension) makes the later scolding he’s likely to receive all worth it.

Oh dear.

He _is_ in too deep, isn’t he?

“Get on with reading the rest already, stupid. I wanna hear what you think.” Despite the venom to his words, Takumi wears a gentle smile that, quite simply, melts Leo’s icy heart just a little more.

...yes, he definitely is.

“ _Hah-_ loud and clear, prince Takumi.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first fic i've written in years, so i'm sorry if it falls a little flat!  
> i am thinking about them constantly. many thoughts head full


End file.
